Columbus Academy Roundup

Bowling squads seek to reach state tournament

Enlarge ImageBuy This PhotoPAUL VERNON/THISWEEKSPORTSTim Leathery (right) of Columbus Academy tangles with Logan's Adam Baker in a 152-pound match during the New Albany Pools and Duals on Dec. 21. Leathery is among the top returnees for the Vikings.

The Columbus Academy boys and girls bowling teams entered the season looking to send competitors to state for the first time.

Fourth-year coach Dan Olexio believes the split this season into two divisions at the state level will help the cause.

The Vikings will compete in Division II during the postseason, and Olexio is hoping both the boys and girls will qualify for district for the first time as teams and then reach state.

"My goal would be for us to get a team to districts and, of course, we'd love to have a team make it to states," Olexio said.

Last season, junior Max Smith and sophomore Aaron Brown reached the district tournament for the boys, with Smith finishing eighth (613) and Brown 67th (477) of 117 competitors as the top three individuals not on qualifying teams advanced to state.

The boys team has started strong. It was 5-0 overall and in the Central Ohio High School Bowling Conference-Central Division before facing Centennial on Jan. 8.

"I was optimistic, but you don't want to be overconfident in some respect," Olexio said. "These guys have already exceeded some expectations. Once you get to that point, you reset your expectations and start thinking, 'What can we do with this now?'"

The Vikings rolled a program-record score in a 2,160-2,101 win over St. Charles on Dec. 9 at HP Lanes.

Brown had a 200 average through 10 games and Smith had a 190.1 average through nine games. They are captains.

"Our top five varsity bowlers, four of five bowled last year and Max's brother, Nick, is our fifth primary starter," Olexio said. "Those guys are solid. Andrew, Max and Aaron Kennedy worked hard over the summer and they practiced a bunch. They're quiet but focused, and they've done a great job."

Olexio expects matches against DeSales on Jan. 22 and Ready on Jan. 23 to help determine the league champion. Last season, the Vikings tied DeSales for second (12-3) behind Ready (14-1).

The girls team was 3-1 overall and in the league before facing Centennial.

Through six games, junior Emma Farrenkopf had a 135.8 average and sophomore Yasmine Kashubeck had a 129.3 average.

The boys team returns senior captains and state qualifiers Mitchell Dreisbach and Gavin Koerner. The boys didn't score at state last season, as Dreisbach and Koerner were members of the 20th-place 200 free relay (season-best 1:32.25).

"I'm expecting both teams to do a little bit better than we did last year," ninth-year coach Craig Yakscoe said.

In the Ned Reeb Invitational on Dec. 7 at Ohio State, freshman Nate Goldfarb was third in the 100 breast (1:00.53).

"It's a really good group (with) some solid returnees and some good new ones coming up, so I'm pretty excited," Yakscoe said.

Wrestling team 'improving every day'

Wrestling coach Paul Bukky believes several members of his team have a chance to advance far in the postseason.

Junior 220-pounder Dan Jones qualified for the Division III state tournament last season at 195, but lost his first-round match by default after injuring his right shoulder in the second period against Carlisle's Marcus Smith.

Jones then lost by default to Archbold's Travis Jaramillo to finish the season 31-9.